


The Fight

by Lenny9987



Series: Living It Up at Lallybroch AU Series [5]
Category: Outlander Series - Diana Gabaldon
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-19
Updated: 2016-01-19
Packaged: 2018-05-15 00:21:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5764564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lenny9987/pseuds/Lenny9987
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Brianna gets into a fight and must face the consequences, putting Jamie's and Claire's parenting to the test. Part of my Living It Up at Lallybroch AU series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Fight

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a prompt from Tumblr where it was originally posted in three installments.
> 
> "I love your writing and am particularly enjoying your Early Riser and Sit Still AU fics. I hope you will continue to do more. I enjoy seeing Claire and Jamie as parents. My prompt is to have Jamie be the big softie if Brianna should get into trouble. I think it would be fun to see him try to be stern with her when she has him wrapped around her little finger."

This was not the way any of them had wanted to start the new year. 

“If you don’t do it, I will,” Claire assured Jamie.

“I made her leave the party and go to bed,” Jamie objected. “Surely that was humiliation enough for her.”

“Yes, and I know you spent time up there telling her stories and whatnot,” Claire reminded him. “If you’re going to punish her, you need to do it right.”

“Well, ye willna let me tan her hide over it,” Jamie pointed out. He had found on more than one occasion that he was relieved Claire was so strongly against such physical punishments for the children. He knew he didn’t have the heart to discipline Brianna or William in the manner his father had him - he would have forced himself to if necessary but with Claire’s objections, he would never need to. But punishment remained a necessary evil of child-rearing and agreeing on the form it should take was becoming increasingly difficult as Brianna and William got older. 

Claire frowned at him, knowing how hollow his point was. “If Brianna had said something to another person’s child and that child hit her, would  _you_  be satisfied with that child being sent to bed early? No. You would want that child brought over and made to apologize properly. Brianna  _will_  do the same… even if that child does belong to  _Laoghaire MacKenzie_.” 

Jamie tried not to smile at the shudder of disgust that rippled through Claire as she said the name. The incident at the Hogmanay party the night before had resurrected too many unpleasant memories for he and Claire. 

According to Brianna, it was Marsali who started the fight when she made some comment about Claire being a witch. Brianna didn’t know about Claire’s experiences at Cranesmuir almost fifteen years earlier but Jamie remembered all too well how Claire had looked with her back bared and reddened by each lash from the switch - how such rumors were not to be spread lightly.

Claire was right - he’d tucked Brianna into bed with reassurances that he’d be sure no one said such things about her mother anymore and he made her promise that if she heard anything again, she’d keep her fists to herself and let him know of who was saying what. 

It wasn’t until he’d told Brianna’s version of events to Claire that  _she’d_  filled him in on the role Laoghaire MacKenzie had played in the Cranesmuir incident.

“What d’ye mean  _she_  got ye taken as a witch? Why? What could she possibly have had against ye?” he’d protested while trying to remember how Laoghaire had looked during their time at Leoch. It had been almost fifteen years and while he was sure Claire was right about Laoghaire’s presence at the castle, he couldn’t remember much beyond working with Alec in the stables and everything to do with Claire.

“She was head over heels for you,” Claire said, indignantly. “She wanted you for herself and resented me for marrying you - convinced herself I’d stolen you away somehow or had bewitched you.”

“And what would ha’ made her think  _I_ wanted to marry her? She was just a lass.”

Claire had snorted. “I think you taking her beating for her and then kissing her the next day _might_  have had something to do with it.”

“That was her? The beating I mean.”

“You can’t expect me to believe you don’t remember?”

Jamie grinned. “What I remember is finding a way to get ye to lay yer hands on me agin. I’d ha’ taken a beating for just about anything to have an excuse for ye to keep visitin’ me at the stables to check my scratches.” He said nothing about her own jealousy -  _that_  he remembered vividly though he still had only vague memories of the girl it had been tied to.

Claire’s temper had cooled as she shook her head at him. “It still doesn’t change the matter at hand now: what are we going to do about punishing Brianna?”

They’d chosen to sleep on it and now in the light of day, they’d finally decided on making Brianna apologize… it was just the  _nature_  of the apology that needed hammering out. 

“Why no just have the lass send a letter? Ye’ve said yerself she needs practice wi’ her penmanship.”

“She needs to apologize to  _Marsali_ ,” Claire reminded him. “That girl doesn’t know how to read yet.”

“Then it’ll be practice for her as well.”

“Jamie,” Claire said sternly and he caved.

“Fine. I’ll fetch her now and we’ll ride over this morning.”

 

* * *

 

Brianna pouted on the horse as she rode alongside her father. 

She didn’t do anything wrong - well, not really. She knew you weren’t supposed to hit anyone else no matter what they said - especially when they were younger than you - but Marsali wouldn’t stop when Brianna had told her to. She hadn’t even hit her at first - she’d only tried to cover the younger girl’s mouth with her hand so no one else would hear her.  _Marsali_ was the one who bit her…  _then_  Brianna had hit her - and it hadn’t been hard. 

Of course Mam and Da had made her go to bed and did it in front of everyone - that had been the worst of it… or so she’d thought. Everyone saw - tenants, neighbors, the rest of her family including her cousins who wouldn’t let her forget it any time soon. Da had marched her through the people who’d stopped dancing and up the stairs to her room, even as Marsali cried and Mam had offered to fetch her things to tend whatever injuries had been inflicted. She hadn’t seen, but Brianna had heard Marsali’s mother’s reaction - the fuss and fury she’d displayed before grabbing her daughters and leaving the party in a huff.

 _That_  had been Brianna’s comfort - Marsali had to leave the party too and no one else would hear the lies she said about Mam. As far as Brianna was concerned, it had all been worth it. 

But now she was being forced to apologize. Everything was settled and now Da was making her ride over to drag it all up again. 

He seemed to sense the track her thoughts had taken. 

“Yer mam  _knows_ what ye said the lass was sayin’ about her,” Da told her. “She knows and she still wants ye to apologize -  _we_  want ye to apologize - because it’s the right thing to do. Whatever the lass said, ye were wrong to strike her and  _that_ is what ye’re sayin’ ye’re sorry for.”

Brianna looked at her father with an unconvinced expression. 

“Ye might get an apology from her in return,” he added as though that would make the prospect of going first less humiliating. She rolled her eyes but he pretended not to see it. 

“When it comes down to it, it doesna matter what ye do or say here - ye did wrong and this is what ye’ll be doin’ to set it right. Or would ye rather yer mam went and apologized to the lass and her mother for ye? That’s what parents do for their bairns as don ken better, aye,” he said, painting a different picture for Brianna. “And she’d do it, too. Yer mam would march over and stare that woman in her face  _knowin’_ what she’d said behind her back, and she’d apologize to her anyway.”

Guilt flooded through Brianna and she sighed but was resigned. If Mam went to see that woman and apologize for her… That would be worse than listening to Marsali call Mam a witch. And Brianna knew she’d only have to apologize to Marsali, not her mother.  _That_  she could understand and come to terms with. Marsali was only four or five and was just repeating what her mother said. She might not know any better but Brianna was almost ten and she certainly did. 

Brianna looked up at Da again. He didn’t look happy about going either but Brianna wasn’t sure whether it was the inconvenience and time lost on the trip or the prospect of Brianna’s apology. She chose to believe it was the latter - after all, he’d been understanding the evening before when they’d reached her room and he’d given her a chance to explain what had happened. 

 

* * *

 

Jamie kept his eyes on Laoghaire as he stood behind Brianna with his hands on her shoulders while she swallowed her pride and apologized to Marsali for hitting her during the Hogmanay party the evening before. 

“I shouldna have belted ye like that, Marsali,” she said in an unenthusiastic but not entirely flat tone. “Will ye please accept my apologies for the harm I did ye while ye were a guest in my father’s house?”

The younger girl looked up to her mother who had a smug look on her face even as Joanie hovered near her waist. Laoghaire gave Marsali a small nod. 

“Thank ye, Bree. I accept.”

Jamie felt Brianna relax now that the apology was over and the humiliation proved less unpleasant than she’d expected.

“Marsali,” Jamie said, addressing the child who wasn’t expecting it. She had inherited a bit of her mother’s pride and stood taller, enjoying her importance in the moment. “I was thinking you and yer sister could show Brianna around. Ye’ve been to see the house at Lallybroch but she’s no been to Balriggan afore.”

Marsali tried to hide her excitement with a measured nod but the three girls broke into a run before they’d passed the corner of the house. 

“Thank ye, Jamie,” Laoghaire said before he could start to say what he’d felt the need to send the girls out of hearing to say. “It’s good to see ye’re raising Brianna wi’ proper respect.”

 _I wish I could say the same_ , he thought but didn’t say aloud - the girl Marsali wasn’t to be blamed for repeating the things her mother said. She probably didn’t understand the full weight of her words just as Brianna was still becoming aware of the larger meanings of actions and words. 

“It’s Claire ye have te thank if ye wish to,” he said, enjoying the whisper of disgust that crossed her face before she could regain control of her features. He let that look feed his carefully controlled anger. “See, Bree takes after me - it’s why she lashed out at Marsali over what she said last night - quicker to act than think sometimes. Claire is a more calm and forgiving sort - under the right circumstances.”

“Then ye’ll need to pass my thanks along to yer wife,” Laoghaire said through a strained smile.

“Aye. I’ll do that. Now, there  _was_ something else I was wishing to speak wi’ ye about,” Jamie began.

“Aye?” Laoghaire asked, confused, curious, and perhaps a little afraid at Jamie’s tone.

“It’s about what yer daughter said last night.”

“Whatever she said, it was no excuse for yer daughter to be hittin’ a lass younger than herself,” Laoghaire jumped in, immediately on the offensive to grab the moral high ground first.

Jamie wasn’t so easily rattled. “And she’s apologized for it. But I do think  _yer_  daughter should apologize to my wife in kind… for what she said. Unless ye think it would be more appropriate for  _you_ to apologize to Claire - since I’m guessin’ she was only repeatin’ after ye.”

Laoghaire’s color rose briefly but she kept her features carefully blank. “Children pick things up all over.”

“So ye’ve no’ been going around calling my wife a witch, then? I know ye have before,” he said, matter-of-factly.

“There were many calling her such,” Laoghaire said with a shrug. “If she didna behave like one, she wouldna have been tried in Cranesmuir.”

Jamie took an imposing step forward and it was the first Laoghaire flinched. “Ye better not be saying such about Claire anymore - or I might be inclined to return the beatin’ I took for ye at Leoch.”

Laoghaire blinked and for a moment the fear left her. “Ye remember that?”

“The beatin’? Aye. I remember each blow and where it fell - I’m sure I could replicate it quite accurately. And I will - woman or no - if ye put Claire in any kind of danger like she was in at Cranesmuir.” He pulled back, his rage largely quelled through the simple threat. He actually chuckled. “Of course, if I did - Claire would likely insist on patching ye up, same as she did me. It was why I did it in the first place… take yer beatin’ that is.”

The color drained from Laoghaire’s face. “Ye’ll be wanting to get back on the road so ye’ll not be riding in the dark,” she advised. 

“And ye’ll be wanting to watch yer tongue around those who might repeat yer words,” Jamie cautioned in return. He backed away and called for Brianna who reappeared around the corner of the house with Marsali and her sister. “Time to head on home,” he ordered with a jerk of the head to their horses. 


End file.
